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Black History Month is in full swing! To celebrate, we wanted to spotlight Afro-Latinas entrepreneurs breaking glass ceilings and paving the way for their community, like CEO and Founder Lulu Cordero, which recently became the first female-owned Afro-Dominican haircare brand to be sold at Target.
Two years ago, Cordero launched her company, Bomba Curls, after working for over ten years to become the dream a reality. Like many Afro-Latinas, Lulu also grew up with the term “pelo malo,” a derogatory expression to incorrectly describe curly hair and most commonly used among societies that have been brainwashed into believing that European features or straight, silky hair are the epitome of beauty.
After being told the curls that naturally grew on her head were ugly; therefore, she needed to chemically ‘relax’ her afro hair, Cordero used Bomba Curls as her voice to help others with similar experiences. With a change of “chip,” the entrepreneur guide them to embrace their curls and love themselves.
Entrepreneurs understand the sacrifices when building a brand — and oh! Lord! Lulu knows it all. She sold her car, nice purses, and clothing to bring the brand to life, and today, her efforts have not gone unnoticed! Lulu Cordero’s Bomba Curls earned her a coveted retail spot at 348 Target stores.
The all-natural, vegan, and cruelty-free haircare brand is also available at Target.com. The launch includes all three of the brand’s signature products, including the Forbidden Oil, Forbidden Mask, and Bomba Beauty Bites.
The award-winning products were created using unique elements of Dominican-inspired formulations blended with generational hair care secrets and organic ingredients to naturally nourish the scalp, promote healthy hair growth, and achieve luscious curls with significant pop!
The name, Bomba (noun), means “a state of mind or attitude that allows one to emanate confidence, fierceness and execute an effortless slay.” At the same time, Curls needs no explanation but still can be described as one of the most beautiful hair textures ever, with an impactful personality.
Who can use Bomba Curls?
Anyone can benefit from the products; however, it has been made to cater to curly-haired beauties, with type 3 and type 4 curls —the most common curl types throughout the Afro-Latino and African-American communities.
Another goal of the CEO and Founder is to bring representation to mainstream media on the beauty of natural hair. The brand’s core message of celebrating the beauty of curls, kinks, and melanin while pushing to broaden the spectrum of beauty has resonated with curly customers across the country.
“I grew up in a world where the wild curls that naturally grew from my head had a stigma attached to them.”, says Cordero. “When I went natural, I heard all kinds of negative comments from people, including my friends and family. I even had cousins exclude me from a holiday party out of fear I would embarrass them by showing up with ‘big, natural hair.’”
“Bomba Curls is my love letter to women and girls everywhere who have ever been made to feel that their natural coils and kinks are somehow anything less than beautiful.”
The journey to creating Bomba Curls
The beauty entrepreneur began her journey to creating Bomba Curls after suffering from traction alopecia and making a commitment to a healthier lifestyle, which included no longer relaxing her hair. “Once I started to eat clean, I realized I wanted an all-around cleaner lifestyle, so I began looking at the beauty products I was using. I was horrified to discover that so many of my personal care products, especially hair care products, were jam-packed with extremely toxic chemicals,” says Lulu.
For women of color, so many of the haircare products available consist of hazardous chemicals that can cause burns on the scalp and “disrupt” the endocrine system, which helps regulate hormones. That‘s when Lulu went to work and used her knowledge as an undergrad in biology mixed with generations of Dominican beauty secrets to create hair elixirs that made her curls and edges flourish.
Besides Target, consumers can also find bomba Curls in Nordstrom and Thirteen Lune (JCPenney).